AI industry in Amsterdam

AI: Defining Amsterdam’s future

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be the defining technology of the future. Amsterdam, already known in Europe for its strong tech sector, vibrant startup scene and academic expertise, is looking to propel itself forward as a leader in the field of AI.

Considered one of the most AI-ready cities in the world, Amsterdam is proving to be an effective living lab for AI solutions. With its international talent pool and open business culture, the city has a reputation for innovation and enterpreneurship. AI is already playing a big part in Amsterdam's thriving business sectors such as FinTech and life sciences and health. But continuous collaborations between academic, business and public life are pushing AI in other areas of business and society, too.

“Amsterdam has great potential to become a leading hub for AI.” – Jim Stolze, Aigency

The city's two universities offer a joint masters programme in AI, and to help nurture the next generation of AI experts, Amsterdam School of Data Science - a collaboration between four of the city's research and applied sciences universities - offers more than 250 data science-driven programmes.

Students are able to apply real-world practice early on through initiatives such as BIT, which connects top students with AI projects of leading businesses including Heineken and ING.Next to that, Amsterdam's startup scene, which has nurtured plenty of thriving AI businesses such as Aidence and Braincreators, also drives AI initiatives: one example is the Rockstart accelerator, which mainly supports emerging tech, energy, health & agrifood startups. 

Plus, Amsterdam is already home to many academic labs that work closely with the industry, such as the Qualcomm-QUVA Lab, UvA-Bosch DELTA Lab, AMLAB, Intelligent Sensory Information Systems, and ILPS.

AI solutions with people in mind

What truly distinguishes Amsterdam, however, is that innovation and entrepreneurship often come with a human-centred approach to AI. When working together, academic, private and public stakeholders make sure people stay at the heart of the projects.

This includes ensuring early processes such as data collection happen in an ethical way; and the outcome actually improves citzens' lives. The Amsterdam Area itself could even be considered a living lab for human-centred and responsible AI: the City has set itself an ambitious goal to extend the average lifespan of citizens by two years by 2025, with big data and AI set to play a key part in reaching this goal.

One of the biggest collaborative public-private initiatives is the AI Technology for People programme. This initiative is designed to help the city develop and deploy responsible tech in the field of AI, and focuses on serving people working in health, business innovation and citizen support. The initiative will encourage collaboration with leading institutions around the world, as well as public partners and members of the business community.